Monthly Archives: October 2017

Amorphous

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Amorphous

Amorphous (Adjective): having no definite form.

“Across from the airport, just east of the Strip, the whole conglomeration like strange amorphous triple junction…”

I encountered the word Amorphous while I was reading Walk with Me by David L. Ulin. I never heard the word before and the word before it is strange, so I know it had to be something was strange however, in this case the definition of the word is shapeless or formless. In the sentence he is saying how “Some strange shapeless triple junction.” the word origin came from the Greek word morphe and was first used in 1731.

Philanthropist

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Philanthropist

Philanthropist (noun) one who makes an active effort to promote human welfare.

“I did, however, start to recognize the land marks: the Boulevard Mall, the Las Vegas Country Club, Sunrise Hospital, all built in the 1950’s and 1960’s by Moe Dalitz, who wanted to be remembered not as a bootlegger but as a philanthropist.”

Walk with Me.

When I first encountered the word philanthropist, I used context clues and I know it was the study of something. I furthered my knowledge by searching up the word on www.merriam-webster.com and got the definition stated above. The definition means the health and well-being of persons. It can be used in a sentence such as spoken as a true philanthropist.

conglomeration

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conglomeration

noun con¡glom¡er¡a¡tion \ kən-ˌglä-mə-ˈrā-shən is the state of being conglomerate a mixed mass of collection . where I first seen this word was in the class reading of walk with me. is where I saw this word I tried to read the paragraph over to see if I understood what the word means but I still could not understand the word so I decide to look the word conglomeration up which I still really didn’t understand until they used in in a sentence for me where I could understand the word conglomeration because the first definition they gave me I really didn’t understand what the word meant the first definition still had confused me some the first  definition was to be in a state of conglomerate which means what literally . So when I went to look the word up further and used it in a sentence I think I may understand the word a little better then before .
ok going to try to use it in a sentence to make sure I understand the word that is a beautiful conglomeration of flowers {meaning a lot of flowers a conglomeration of } so now that I understand the word I can use it in a sentence and now when I see the word I am not confused by the word.

Candid

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Candid (Adjective)-Relating to or being photography of subject acting naturally or spontaneously without being posed.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candid

Taking a photo and the person is not posing for the photo or simply not ready, this is called a candid photo.

Example: As you can see in the picture bellow, one man is ready for the picture while the other two men in the back  are not ready for the picture.

 

Overlapping Brooklyns

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Looking at the photograph from Brooklyn Historical Society, we observe:

African-American family in the foreground

  • wearing casual clothing
  • helps us date the photograph
  • child petting cat
  • broken railing
  • graffiti
  • screens
  • curtains

Orthodox Jewish family in the background:

  • formal attire
  • air conditioning
  • blinds in the windows
  • fallout shelter (do all buildings have this?)

Overlaps:

  • racial/ethnic/religious overlaps
  • socioeconomic overlap
  • new vs old home technologies/outfittings
  • recreation vs. not
  • ornamentation vs. worn-down buildings

Thesis statement:

  • Despite their location next to each other on the block,
  • Although both houses have similar architecture,
  • The two families differ in their appearance and activity, yet they both

Organization:

  • block format
    • all about one
    • all about the other
    • comparison
    • or
    • all about one
    • all about the other with comparison to the first
  • point-by-point
    • one element and comparison
    • another element and comparison
    • another element and comparison etc
  • a combination of the two

Including quotations

  • introduce it
  • quote it (and cite it)
  • interpret it: “In other words…”
  • analyze it
  • apply it back to your thesis

Masonry

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Masonry (Noun)- Work done using stone, brick, or concrete : work done by a mason.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/masonry

“He added, ‘Actually instead of looking at individual buildings, it makes more metaphorical sense to think of New York as one enormous chunk of masonry that has been cut up and carved away. This is the ultimate polis, through which humans move like nematodes.’ “.

This word was taken from our second reading and I found it interesting how Self used that word to describe what he saw while on his trip in New York. The meaning is something built of a particular structure.

 

Summary for Self

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In “A Literary Visitor Strolls In From The Airport” by Charles McGrath , the author talks about a writer who travels through New York without using public transportation. He shows aspects of the city and gives insight on sights that many may not have noticed as a New Yorker. In the feature article McGrath speaks about Mr.Self who opens the reader’s eyes about traveling to particular areas by walking. For example, he talked about asking directions and responses that he got. The author draws his readers in with examples to make us think about the experience of walking through the city as opposed to driving. One of those would be Self’s walk from JFK airport to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which is a 26 mile walk. His walk’s trajectory goes from Queens to Brooklyn to Manhattan. Throughout that journey he talks about some of the sights he sees including some familiar and unfamiliar areas such as Eastern Parkway, the projects on Glendale and Flatbush Avenue. He offers specific details of what he experienced visually. In addition, he tends to comment about what these sights say about life in America. For example, “There is a deep sadness to American society, greater than the sadness of any kind. It’s because America has such ideology of success”. The author expresses how Will Self’s walking is a stress reliever for his addiction to alcohol and drugs, noting that “ walking made him feel better than drugs ever did”. Mr. Self takes us around Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan and as he gets close to his destination, he makes commentary about architecture of landmarks such as the Municipal Building. Mr. Self finally concludes that NY is more complex than what the naked eye sees. According to Self, “Actually , instead of looking at individual buildings, it makes more metaphorical sense to think of New York as one enormous chunk of masonry that has been cut up and carved away”.     

Summarizing Colsen Whitehead’s Article

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In “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, the author speaks about life as a true New Yorker and how the city is portrayed and viewed by those who live there. He mainly grabs the reader’s attention by using his personal experiences and hypothetical scenarios to show everyone has their own private New York. According to Whitehead, a true New Yorker tends to remember the old things but they also notice change. For example, Whitehead talks about the Pan Am building, which is referred to as the Met Life building today. This is an example of old New York overlapping new New York. He states that someone else might just see the Met Life building and they’re wrong but he states that he is also wrong. This is because he sees what it used to be, the Pan Am building. This relates to his other point of New Yorkers being resistant to change. He later goes on to speak about the the changes in everyone’s “private New York”. Our private New York is described as our own experiences of New York through the changes we see. In our private New York we may not have known each other but we may have encountered the same places or things. Whitehead also notes that, as we remember the city through our experiences, it also remembers us and our many flaws. In our New York, the city sees us at our best and worse & has yet to judge us. Whitehead makes a comment about how NYers should respect and appreciate the city as much as it does for us. For example, “New York City does not hold our former self against us. Perhaps we can extend the courtesy”. Throughout the article, Colson Whitehead’s tone tends to shift, along with his perspective. He seems to have an informal tone for that focused on himself and his own feelings about the city in the beginning. It later shifts to talk about how the city treats us and the appreciation we have or should have for it in return.  

 

Topography

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Topography (Noun)-  The art or practice of graphic delineation in detail usually on maps or charts of natural and man-made features of a place or region especially in a way to show their relative positions and elevations.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/topography

“By Mr.Self’s usual standards, the walk from Kennedy to Manhattan, about 20 miles, is a mere stroll. What recommended it was that it would take him through parts of the city that most people never notice while driving in a car: an experience that Mr. Self, a student of psycho-geography, believes has imposed a ‘windscreen-based virtuality’ on travel, cutting us off from experiencing our own topography”.

I encountered the word while looking over our reading for the hundredth time. Ive heard this word before and from its context I understood that it means our surroundings. The meaning went in depth and gave more explanation to the word. I now understand that it means the arrangement and detailing of particular area.

Carousing

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Carouse (Intransitive Verb)- To drink liquor freely or excessively

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carouse

I encountered the word while reading our second article and it stood out to me because it was a word I had not seen, heard, or encountered in any other reading.  I deciphered the word from it context and knew it related to his addiction.

“But Mr.Self has been clean for eight years or so, and some of the energy he used to expend on carousing now goes into epic hikes, sometimes as long as 100 miles – from London, say, into the Lea valley and through the Epping Forest to north Essex”.

Sentence: I try not to carouse when I am going through a stressful time in my life.

Image: Carousing